Zelda: The College Years
by PMart7319
Summary: AU: Zelda's off to college! She moves to a new city, meets new friends, and tries new things. She makes a few mistakes along the way, learns about the differences between high school and college boys, and finds adventure around every corner. Does she really have to graduate or can she stay here forever?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No I don't own the Legend of Zelda. Or any of it's characters. I also don't own Chubbies or Ray-Bans (both the brand and the actual products - shit's expensive yo). Look I probably don't own anything in this story, ok? Except the plot. Don't take that. K, I think I've got my ass sufficiently covered.

**Rated M for: Occasional swearing, adult themes and situations (in later chapters - talking about sex, drugs, drinking, the usual. Young ones might wanna steer clear.)**

* * *

"This is fucking lame," I hear someone mumble behind me. I'm currently sitting with a group of fellow freshman – my orientation group - as we listen to our orientation leader give us pointers for surviving our first year of college. We've just finished the "fun" part (those stupid ice-breakers they make people play that no one ever likes) and have been sitting silently under a shady tree for the past five minutes. I look around to identify the speaker and my eyes scan the small crowd; every single person is fanning themselves with the orientation packets they gave us at check-in. Now, who made the rather loud and rather rude comment? Ah, it's hair boy. What was his name again? Goose? Grease? "I'm Groose", hair boy loudly whispers, a cocky smirk plastered on his face. I take a few moments to fully "appreciate" his appearance: he's a pretty big guy, very muscular (wait, is he really flexing right now?), and is wearing a pair of bright orange Ray-Bans, a sleeveless shirt, and a pair of Chubbies. He also has one of the most ridiculous hairstyles I've ever seen on a person. It's bright red and styled into a pompadour. People seriously still wear pompadours in the 21st century? I politely offer a grimace to hair boy, hoping it indicates that I've acknowledged his comment but do not wish to further engage in any type of conversation with him. He doesn't take the hint. He squeezes in between me and the girl sitting next to me, plops down, and starts asking me all kinds of questions. They start off rather innocuously, and not wanting to seem like a bitch on my first day of college, I answer him.

"What's your name?"

"Zelda."

"Hmm, pretty name for a pretty girl. Where are you from Zelda?"

"New Hyrule City."

"Ooh a big-city girl."

"Yep." I'm starting to get annoyed. I mean, this orientation group is admittedly kinda lame, but I do want to hear what our orientation leader is saying. What if I miss something important? Plus, it's so fucking rude to talk when someone else is speaking. City girl's got _some_ manners.

"So, Zelda, do you have a boyfriend?"

Okay, this guy is really pushing it. "What's it to you?"

He chuckles. "I like a girl with a little fight in her." Gross. I try to ignore him, but this guy is really persistent.

"Are you going to the dance later tonight?" Ignore.

"Some friends and I are pre-gaming in my room before we go. We've got tons of beer, vodka, rum, chasers. We're gonna get plastered. You should come over!"

Ugh. "No thanks."

"Come on Zel, don't be a tease. Here, tell me your number" He whips out his phone, and I am seriously so annoyed with hair boy at this point. Fuck first impressions, I'm ready to tear this guy a new one.

"Sorry dude, Zelda's hanging out with us tonight" I hear another male voice off to my left say. I whip around to locate the source of the voice, and that's when our eyes meet. He looks meaningfully at me, and I momentarily forget the douchey guy that's vying for my attention. Holy crap, his eyes are crazy blue! Wait, what does he want? It takes a few moments for me to realize that his eyes are darting back and forth between me and Groose. Aaah, I get it.

"Yup, already hanging out with my buddy here. Sorry." Groose looks disappointed, but he backs off soon afterwards. Thank god. I look back to blue eyes and offer him a thankful smile. "Thanks" I whisper. He grins back. "No worries", he says. I turn my attention back to the orientation leader, just in time to hear her say, "So that's really all the important stuff you need to know about Hyrule U." Damn it. She looks at her watch. "Alright, you guys can go get lunch now. And don't forget what I said about tomorrow!" Everyone gets up and starts heading towards the cafeteria. Damn it. What did she say about tomorrow? Gaah stupid Groose.

"Have any plans for lunch?" I hear behind me. I swear, if this is fucking Groose again I will punch his lights out. I turn around, ready for a confrontation, and oh, it's blue eyes.

"No, do you?"

He grins. "Come on, let's eat!" He stuffs his hands in his pockets and starts walking the opposite direction. Uhh, does he realize he's going the wrong way? Pfft, freshman. "Hey, I think food is this way," I point towards the cafeteria, a smirk on my face. "There's a pretty sweet Zora restaurant a few blocks off campus. Let's go!" I hesitate. Zora food is pretty good, but I have all this meal plan money loaded on my student ID. It would be stupid to waste real money on food. "I promise, this place is reeeally good. Miles better than campus food." "I don't know man. I mean, we have all this meal plan money to waste," I say. When he sees that I'm not gonna budge, he gives me puppy dog eyes and starts poking my arm. "Come on. Come on. Come on. Please?" "Alright, alright! Let's got to your stupid restaurant." He looks briefly startled, but grins once he sees my smirking face. I dunno, normally shit like this would irritate me to no end, but there's something about this guy that I find slightly intriguing. Besides, if I don't follow him I'll have to eat by myself. It's not like I have any friends yet.

We're en route to the restaurant and the sun is overwhelmingly hot and bright. It's the end of August, and temperatures in Old Hyrule remain in the high 90s until at least the end of September. That's one thing I really miss about New Hyrule City. It's pretty warm year-round, but never oppressively hot. Sure, some people make fun of our lack of seasons, but I see that as a positive. Well, for starters, it means I can go to the beach whenever I want. Even in the dead of winter. I'm walking alongside blue eyes, miserable in the heat, when I realize I still don't know his name.

"So uh, what's your name?" Smooth Zel, real smooth.

He laughs. "I'm Link. Sorry, probably should have introduced myself earlier."

A beat of silence.

"Link, it's pretty fucking hot out," I lament. He chuckles. "I promise, the food is so worth it." It better be. We walk in silence for a few minutes, the hot sun baking my brain and preventing me from forming any coherent thoughts. I look over at Link, who's walking with a relaxed and casual gait. How is he handling this heat so well? I think he's slouching a little. Cute.

"So, where are you from Zelda?"

Oh are we doing this again? Thoughts about Groose's attempts at a conversation come to mind, but I dismiss them. I don't think Link is trying to hit on me. At least, I hope he isn't. I mean, it's my first day of college, and I don't even have friends yet. I want to at least make a few friends before I even start thinking about dating. Gotta have my priorities straight. Wait, what did he ask me again? Oh, right.

"New Hyrule City. What about you?"

"Ordon Town. It's a really small town right next to Kakariko City."

Ordon Town, huh? I've never heard of the place. "What's Ordon Town like?"

"Full of goats." I laugh. "It's a tiny place. There's never anything to do around there. In high school, if we wanted to go to a concert, watch a game, or really just have any semblance of fun we would go over to Kakariko. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's home and stuff, so I do miss it a little. But it's not the most exciting place." He blushes a little as he rushes through his words and I notice that he's fidgeting with his hands. Odd.

"So what's New Hyrule City like? Is it as wild as all the movies say?" He asks.

New Hyrule City – or just Hyrule, which is what us native Hyrulians call it – is a huge city. It's also the entertainment and music industry capital in the country. There is always something to do, and yeah, I guess it really is as exciting as all the movies portray it. Movies that are all filmed in Hyrule. It can be pretty glamourous, but it's also comes off as really hollow to me. But I guess I only think that because both my parents are entertainment lawyers, so I'm constantly surrounded with all these shmoozy, shallow, superficial industry people. Most people in Hyrule live away from all the glitz and glamour and live normal lives, but I guess that isn't as interesting a story for all the tabloids. Anyway, that's why I decided to go to school in Old Hyrule. After living my whole life in such a fast paced city I decided that I needed a change in scenery. I talk about my hometown with Link, who listens to my mini-rant with interest.

"You know, I've always wanted to visit New Hyrule - "

"No! Tourists are the worst!" I interject.

"No, I don't want to go see the stars or anything," Link laughs. "You guys have a bunch of really cool hiking trails, and all kinds of caves tucked away near the mountains, right?" he asks me.

"Yeah, but those are more near the outskirts of the city. People don't normally come to Hyrule to hike. Are you into nature and stuff?" I ask clumsily. I really am the smoothest talker aren't I? Link lets out a small laugh. "I guess you could say that. Yeah, I really like exploring stuff and just being outside. I guess it's a good thing I'm an archaeology major huh?" he says, scratching the back of his head.

Ah, that must be why he decided to go to Hyrule U. Hyrule University has an incredible archaeology department, one of the best in the country. Students are constantly taken on digs throughout the world, where they assist professors and upper-division students sometimes even help lead sites. It's serious shit. I myself would be an archaeology major if I wasn't so enamored with history. That's the real reason I chose to go to school in the old country. It's beautiful and full of ancient ruins and temples from eras long gone. The Hyrule Castle ruins are only an hour away from campus, and I am so excited to finally get a chance to visit them. Link and I continue to ask and answer all those awkward, stereotypical questions that all brand-new freshmen ask each other when they're trying to get to know one another. He lives in Forest Haven Hall, which is all the way across campus from my hall, Skyview. We learn each other's class schedules for the semester (we don't have any together, bummer). We talk about high school and how cool and over it we were as seniors. Before I know it, we've reached the Zora restaurant.

I'll admit, I'm a bit put off by its dingy exterior. There's a tiny table outside with a very hole-y umbrella, which doesn't seem to be doing much to protect from the heat. The paint on the walls - which must have been a bright, yolky yellow in its heyday but has since faded to an ugly, stain-looking color - is peeling off and they don't even have a proper sign for their name. Whoa, I definitely sound like a stereotypical stuck-up Hyrulian brat. I mean, I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's shitty cover, but come on now! We walk inside and it looks...festive. Each wall is painted a different color, each shade intensely brilliant. Red, blue, green, and yellow. Purple and orange streamers and paper decorations are hung haphazardly around the place, along with many strings of colorful Christmas lights. I hear upbeat, Zoran music playing from a stereo nearby. It's a tiny, empty place; I count only 4 tables. Plus, they don't have any air-conditioning! It's so hot and muggy, and I literally feel like I'm drowning in the humid air. "They have more outside seating in the back," Link says as he leads me towards another door. We step back out and, thankfully, all these tables are covered by functioning umbrellas. We sit under the shade and begin to peruse the menu. I finally see the restaurant's name imprinted on the menu in a large, loud font: Zoradora! I'm not kidding, the exclamation point is actually part of their name. "Zoradora?" I ask out loud. "No, no, you have to say it like this: ZORADORA!" he exclaims, waving his hands with a flourish. "Emphasis on the '!' ." I let out a chortle, "What does that even mean?" "I think it literally means 'party' in native Zoran," Link remarks. "Explains the decorations I guess..." I mumble.

We fall silent as we look through the extensive menu. I eventually settle for the Red Coral Rolls, while Link orders the Reekfish platter. Our food arrives pretty fast, but that's probably because we're their only customers. "I've never been brave enough to try Reekfish." I say, wrinkling my nose at his plate of food. "It's actually not as bad as it sounds," he says in between mouthfuls of food. "I mean, it smells really bad when it's fresh and is absolutely disgusting raw, but when it's cooked with native Zora succulents and Chu Jelly it loses it's bitter taste and becomes a lot more savory and flavorful," he explains. Wow, for someone from a supposedly small town he sure knows a lot about native Zora cuisine. I nod thoughtfully and take a bite out of my coral rolls. Dear god, these are delicious! These are seriously some of the best coral rolls I've ever had, and I'm from New Hyrule! We have some of the best food available there from all kinds of different cultures because of our incredibly diverse population, so trust me, I know what I'm talking about. "So, what do you think of the food?" Link asks with a sly smile. "It's decent." Link raises an eyebrow. He's not falling for it. "Ok, ok, it's really good. Crazy good, actually," I admit. Link says nothing, but he has the smuggest, most pompous grin plastered on his boyish face, feeling validated about his superior taste in food. I roll my eyes and kick his chair, making him laugh. I take this opportunity to check out my fellow companion. Yeah, I'm checking him out. I know I said I wasn't interested in dating just yet, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate when someone looks damn good. He has shaggy, dirty blond hair, with bangs that skim those crazy bright blue eyes of his. He's wearing a dark green flannel shirt that fits his tall and lanky frame really well, with the sleeves rolled back to reveal his lightly tanned forearms. Wait a minute, flannel? In 90 degree weather? Is he serious? I'm wearing a pair of denim cutoffs and a plain sleeveless shirt, and I feel like I'm _still_ wearing too much. "How have you not died of heat exhaustion yet?" I ask in disbelief. "This is nothing. In Ordon, almost every day of summer is in the triple digits. This seriously feels like heaven right now," Link says as he leans back in his chair, arms behind his head. "Oh that's right, you're from New Hyrule, where the weather's _always_ perfect. I'm sorry it's so hot, princess," he teases, wearing a big, shit-eating grin on his cute, stupid face. I make a face back and kick at his chair again, causing him to let out a strangled yelp as he nearly falls out of his chair. We both break into an uncontrollable fit of laughter and I apologize profusely, in between our stupid giggles. "Don't worry about it Zelda," he says as the laughter subsides. "Are you ready to go back?" I look at him thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Call me Zel."

* * *

**Alright, alright, alright. Hey everyone, PMart here. This is going to be an absurdly long author's note, so bear with me. So this is my first story on FF and I would really appreciate some feedback on it. First off, I absolutely love the Legend of Zelda series. I also love AU Zelda stories, but I've noticed that a huge majority of them place the characters in high school. Now I'm not knocking any of these stories or authors - a lot of the stuff I've read is pretty well-written - but I just don't relate. I wanted to write a story that I can relate to as a young adult who sometimes thinks she has life figured out and then realizes that oh wait, no I don't. I'm gonna draw some stuff from my own personal experiences to try to make this as realistic as possible. Just a fair warning, later chapters will definitely allude to sex and drug use, so if those topics make you uncomfortable you might want to jump ship now. I have a rough sketch already planned out for this story, so I will definitely be updating. I don't plan on abandoning my first story (but that's what everyone says, right?). Also, I'm gonna try to stay away from falling into that cliched pattern I see so often here, where all the main characters are best friends and they all end up together in the end. That just doesn't happen in real life. I might have a few characters hook up now and then but I seriously doubt I'll be putting them in relationships with each other. So if you were expecting a Sheik/Midna ship (I don't really get how that's a thing; they weren't even in the same games!), or maybe some Pipit/Karane, I don't know what to tell you. Ok, I might do a little Pipit/Karane, but I'm not making any promises. Uuhhh, let's see, am I forgetting anything?**

**Yes! A quick couple of notes on this chapter:**

***Chubbies: they're a brand of shorts that are very popular with the frat guys at my school. So in my mind, chubbies = frat bro. Same with Ray-Bans.**

***All temperatures are in Fahrenheit. Because I'm 'Murican.**

***New Hyrule City is basically a rip-off of Los Angeles.**

***I love flannel. It's an unhealthy love. I expect Link to be wearing plenty of flannels throughout the story.**

***I love food, but sadly I can't cook it. So my apologies if this got a bit too food-intense towards the end.**

**And I think that's it. So, review the story, yeah?**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda, but I own this story.

* * *

After stuffing our faces with cheap and delicious food, Link and I decide to head back to campus. Link goes out of his way to hop onto every ledge on the way back, arms outstretched like a small child. Several times he trips over his untied shoelaces, but continues on undeterred. What a clumsy goon. It's refreshing though, seeing how carefree he seems to be in front of me, someone he just met only two hours ago. Maybe it's because most of my friends back home are very concerned with maintaining cool, affected personas and looking important, always scoffing at others' attempts at impressing us. Geez, what's the word I'm looking for? Pretentious. My friends are pretentious. Crap, does that mean I'm pretentious? I mean, I did hang out with them all throughout high school, so it's definitely possible that it's rubbed off on me. Can other people pick up on that?

As I grapple with this newly realized revelation, Link's voice breaks through my thoughts and brings me back to the present. "I knew you'd like the food. Learn to trust your Master, young Padawan," he grins and ruffles the top of my head, causing me to roll my eyes and ready to scoff at his nerdy reference. Wait, don't be so judgmental, Zelda. I look at the boy as he balances on a ledge a few feet in front of me, ready to jump onto the next one.

"Link, how do you know so much about Zoran food?"

"Well, I've mostly just read about it," he admits sheepishly. "I just love learning everything I can about other cultures, but being from such a small place kinda limits my exposure to new things. Even Kakariko can be pretty... homogeneous, for the most part." A faint blush spreads across his cheeks. "You know, not all of us are lucky enough to be from as cool a place as New Hyrule," he teases.

"We're not that cool..." I mumble softly, my thoughts straying back to my high school friends. He looks at me with an unreadable expression, and just as he's about to open his mouth, I decide to change the subject.

"What did the orientation leader say about tomorrow? I missed a lot of the presentation because, well, you know."

"Stupid Goose," Link says, shaking his head. I'm not sure if he deliberately mispronounced his name, or if he genuinely believes hair boy was named after a rather aggressive type of waterfowl. Either way, I decide not to correct him. "She was just reminding us about convocation tomorrow afternoon. We have to meet by the fountain by 1 so we can walk in with our O-groups."

"Convocation?"

"It's just a ceremony where we're formally inducted into the college. Or something like that."

"Sounds...lame. I mean, we're here already, just let us get on with our lives! I just think they're holding our hands unnecessarily, with all this orientation stuff and lame ice-breakers. Like, we're not babies anymore! You know?" I glance over at him, looking for affirmation.

"Well yeah, but I don't know, I kinda don't mind it. It lets me meet people I normally wouldn't get a chance to. Like you!" Link pokes my side, boyish grin adorning his face. I guess he makes a fair point.

Before I know it, we've finally reached the entrance to campus. I really should head back to my dorm and finish unpacking; Karane, my roommate, is probably going crazy over the mess by now. I still kinda want to hang out with Link, but I'm sure he probably has things to do too. "Do you think you're going to the dance later tonight?"

I stop to think for a few moments. I'll admit, I definitely rolled my eyes when I first heard that the school was throwing a welcome dance for all the new freshmen. I mean, it just sounds so high school and lame! But I probably should go, at least to meet new people. Besides, I should probably try to shed my cooler-than-thou attitude if I want people to like me. "It sounds like it could be interesting," I say noncommittally.

Link looks down and begins to study his feet intensely, before saying, "Do you want -". He's suddenly cut off by my generic iPhone ringtone.

"Oh, it's my roommate! Sorry, I should probably get this," I explain apologetically. Link waves his hands and I answer my phone.

_"__Zelda! Our mandatory hall meeting's started already, where are you?"_

"Crap! I'll be there as soon as I can!"

_"__Hurry!"_

We hang up, and I turn to Link; unfortunately our lunch date must come to an end. "Link, buddy, I'm sorry, but I really have to go! I forgot that our hall meeting was this afternoon, and I have to be there because they're doing a head count and making us sign our roommate agreement forms. I guess they want to make sure we're not stowing away any secret boyfriends or anything."

"No worries Zel, I'll see you around?"

I start running towards my dorm, looking back at him one last time, "Come find me at the dance!"

He grins widely and shouts after me, "I'll save one just for you!"

I race back to my dorm, flying past hoards of students lounging lazily and tanning on the soft green grass. Lucky bastards.

I power through and continue running at top speed to Skyview; Hyrule U. has a huge campus and my dorm is at least ten minutes from the entrance. Thank god I did track-and-field in high school. I finally reach Skyview, hot, sweaty, and out of breath. I quickly make my way to the common room, where the RAs are in the middle of their presentation. I silently slip in and find a space in the back of the room, trying to draw the least amount of attention to my presence. They continue to lecture us about the dorm rules and expectations, their obligations as RA's and our obligations as residents, and give us important contact information to use in case we're ever in trouble or are locked out of Skyview. The presentation finally comes to an end and they begin counting each one of us.

"Sometime during the next week one of us will be showing up to each room and conducting room checks, so be on the lookout and hide anything that might get you in trouble," says one of the RA's (whose name I've already forgotten), eliciting snickers from many people in the room.

The RA continues, "Alright, now I want everyone to find your roommates and go over the agreement forms. This is your chance to lay out the guidelines you expect your roommate to follow. Setting boundaries now will help you guys with any disagreements you might have later on in the year, so please take these seriously and turn in a copy before you leave."

Everyone in the room begins stampeding around the room, searching and shouting their roommate's name in hopes of being heard over everyone else.

"Zelda!" Someone grabs my shoulder and when I turn I'm face-to-face with my roommate, Karane. I haven't had a chance to talk to her much; I just got here this morning and only had a chance to unpack a few things and exchange phone numbers before rushing to that orientation group.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time!"

"Sorry! Thanks for reminding me about the meeting though. I was having lunch and it just completely slipped my mind."

"Well, let's just bust this agreement out and get outta here." We both find a spot on the floor to sit and begin discussing our rules. "So, nothing much will faze me really. I go to bed around midnight so don't worry about having to tiptoe around the room because I'm an early sleeper and you're afraid of waking me up or something." I nod my head. "I go to bed around midnight too, so this is perfect."

Karane continues, lowering her voice a little. "I really don't mind drinking or drugs or anything. Well, maybe hard drugs. I don't wanna sound lame or anything, but, you know..."

"No, I get it. I completely agree. No hard drugs."

"Umm ok, I think we've covered everything." She taps her pen thoughtfully against her chin, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Oh! Boys! Or girls, I don't want to make any assumptions here. Um, I guess let's just let each other know beforehand, and no sexiling past bedtime?"

"Deal!"

We sign our forms and look for an RA to hand it over to and I start to mull over our self-set boundaries. I wonder if Karane's the type of person who will sexile me all the time. I wonder if _I'll_ be the type of person who will sexile _her_ all the time. I laugh inwardly; I've only just started college, but I really don't think I'm the type of person who will enjoy hookup culture. Not that there's anything wrong if that's your scene, you know, hurrah for sexual empowerment and all that jazz. But I just don't know if I'm the type who can "hit it and quit it". I'm such an awkward person, I'd probably make things so uncomfortable between myself and any potential hookup. Don't get me wrong, I'm not entirely innocent either. I've dated a few guys back home, and I've had a couple boyfriends before, who I've done stuffwith. But these were boyfriends, so there was a certain level of emotional intimacy there. I mean, are you expected to immediately go all the way in college? My mind starts spinning as I try to sort out all these new thoughts and emotions. This is the type of stuff they should explain in orientation!

Karane and I make our way back to our room, getting to know each other a little better since our initial meeting was so rushed this morning. I find out she's from Skyloft, which is a beautiful place up north from Old Hyrule. We continue to bond and talk about our hometowns as we finish unpacking and setting the room in order.

Soon Karane asks me, "So have you met anyone cool yet? Most of the people in my group were kinda lame. Just a lot of fake proto-sorority girls and meatheads, you know the type."

"Ugh tell me about it. Some slimeball in my group would not stop hitting on me and he really wanted me to hang out with him tonight. Probably just wants to get me shit-faced and have his way with me."

"You really have to watch your back around guys like that," she says, brows furrowed and a hard set frown on her face.

"I know, I know, but this guy from my group helped me fend him off though," I say, smiling as I remember the blue-eyed boy who came to my rescue.

"Ooohh was he cute?" Karane asks, curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, I guess so -"

"Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have a vacuum cleaner lying around, would you?"

A petite, pale-skinned Twili girl, with amber eyes lined with dark liner and fiery red hair (her hair seriously looks like fire) gathered into a loose ponytail, is poking her head through our open door. Holy crap, she has to be the hottest girl I've ever laid my eyes on. "I'm Midna, by the way! I live right over there," she says, pointing a perfectly manicured finger towards the end of the hall.

"Hold on, I think I put mine in the closet," Karane shouts from behind her desk. She jumps over piles of clothes and books, and bounds over to our shared closet, where she quickly finds our Easy-Vac on the top shelf. As she hands it over to Midna, I take this opportunity to introduce myself to our floormate. "I'm Zelda, and this is Karane," I nod my head towards my roommate. "How's move-in going?"

"I can't believe my parents let me bring so much junk!" the small girl exclaims. "Like seriously, I don't think I'm gonna be able to fit everything in my room. I'm sure my roommate already hates me," she says with a laugh.

"I know what you mean. I seriously brought back my high school yearbooks. What the hell do I need those for?" Karane shares, earning laughter from Midna and I.

"Hey Mid, did you find a vacuum?" Another small, tan-skinned girl is standing at our doorway, and my eyes are immediately drawn to her bright blonde hair, piled atop her head in a messy bun. "Hey guys, I'm Tetra," she says, her voice heavy with an accent I can't exactly place. "I'm one of your next-door neighbors." She jerks her thumb towards the door on our left. We introduce ourselves to the new girl and start talking about our hometowns, and I find out that Tetra is from Outset Island, a small beautiful island off of the coast that I've always wanted to visit. It also explains her accent. Midna is from Twilight City, a pretty hip and gloomy city only a few hours away from New Hyrule.

We continue to talk, discussing our favorite hang out spots back home while simultaneously lamenting the tourist industry in our respective cities. "I love Outset Island, but tourists suck so hard! We've been having more and more of them and they just trash our beaches and disrespect our local wildlife," Tetra says with a scowl on her tanned face.

"Tell me about it. We have so many people riding these cheesy buses around Hyrule that promise to go to famous people's homes, so people can take pictures of them. One, that's such a huge invasion of privacy, and two, they just hold up traffic all the time! I mean, I'll be late to like, appointments and stuff, because I'm stuck behind two of these stupid buses," I add, remembering those horrible, horrible buses filled to the brim with tacky tourists.

"Skyloft hasn't gotten too bad yet, but I think it helps that we're so deeply tucked into the mountains that no one ever wants to bother going through all the trouble of reaching us."

"Twilight isn't too bad either. Like, we've had a lot of young, twenty-something year olds fresh out of college, moving into town to try to do something cool and important with their lives, but they just bum around and do absolutely nothing," Midna says, rolling her amber eyes in disdain. "I feel like a lot of people just aren't ready to face our rainy weather though. Pussies."

We all start giggling, and Midna announces, "You guys are so much cooler than anyone in my orientation group was!" Tetra looks over at her and scowls. "Well, except for Tetra here."

Tetra continues, "Yeah, everyone was just so... _douchey_. Everyone was either a rich, vapid daddy's girl or a musclehead drooling over these chicks."

Karane adds, "Yeah, Zelda and I were just talking about how lame our groups were too! Geez, I hope not everyone here is like that, or the next four years are gonna suck so much," she says with a nervous chuckle. Well now, Link wasn't too bad.

"Hey! Do you guys wanna go to the dance together? I have a handle of vodka in my fridge we can share," Midna asks, eyes lighting up at her own suggestion.

I look over to Karane, who nods her head with a smile. "That sounds fun! Come over around nine; we can pre-game in our room," I tell the two petite girls.

"Fucking awesome. I'm gonna go finish unpacking, but I'll see you guys soon. Thanks for the vacuum!" Midna waves goodbye and flies down the linoleum floors of our hall and back to her room.

"Yeah, I have to finish rearranging my room, so I'll see you guys later. I'm so pumped!" Tetra shouts as she leaves our room and heads next door. Karane and I continue to clean our room, and I'm suddenly filled with excitement and anticipation. Tonight can't come fast enough.

* * *

Midna and Tetra arrive a little after nine, a giant bottle of alcohol in hand and four shot glasses in the other. "Sorry we're late! We had to wait until the RA went back into her room so we could sneak this in here," Midna explains, shaking the bottle of vodka in her hand.

"Don't worry about it!" Karane says, ushering the girls into our room and closing the door so we can begin our festivities. We all take turns complimenting each other's outfits, emitting girlish squeals and screams as we ask one another where we found a particular article of clothing. I'm sure we must look and sound obnoxious to any outside observers, but whatever, we're bonding. Tetra is wearing a short, tight floral print dress, it's light color contrasting starkly and beautifully against her tan skin. Her bright blonde hair shimmers in the light and lays in soft waves on her back. She has completed her look by lining her dark brown eyes with deep purple liner and nude lips. Midna is wearing a revealing leopard print corset with a short, body-hugging black skirt, and is wearing winged black liner and nude lips. She has curled her hair lightly so that it cascades on her shoulders in gentle waves. Karane is wearing a rockin' pair of black studded leather shorts (which I'll have to borrow sometime), a loose, white, sleeveless button down tucked casually into her shorts and open slightly to reveal her bright pink bandeau bra. She wears her short chestnut brown hair in a loose, braided bun, and finishes her look with a pair of bright pink lips. Wow, my new friends are absolutely gorgeous.

I'm wearing a short black and silver sequined dress, complete with cutouts around my back, sides, and chest area. I'm wearing pale pink lips, black, slightly smudged eye liner, and I've straightened my medium length golden, blonde hair. I think I look pretty damn decent.

Midna starts pouring vodka into the glasses and handing one to each of us. We raise our glasses and Tetra speaks, "Here's to being young and hot!" We all snort at her shallow toast, clink our glasses, and throw back our shots.

We all make sour faces as the burning alcohol makes its way down our throats. "Please tell me we have chasers," Tetra begs. Karane pulls out a small bottle of cranberry juice, which we all take turns sipping from. "Round two?" Midna asks as she begins to pour us all more drinks. We drink, pour another round, and drink some more, and Midna starts giggling uncontrollably.

"What's gotten into her?" I ask, as her giggles infect the rest of my friends.

"I just really hope Dark goes to the dance," she says with a sly smile.

"Who's Dark?" Karane asks.

Tetra rolls her brown eyes. "He was this really cocky guy in our O-group. Just thought he was God's gift to women," she explains.

"I thought you said everyone in your group was lame?" I ask Midna.

"Like, yeah he was kinda douchey. But he's really hot. I wanna fuck him!" She flops face up onto Karane's bed with a frustrated groan. "So. Damn. Hot..." Midna trails off, mischievous smirk on her sultry face.

Impressed with her honesty, I pour another shot of rounds and hand them to everyone. I raise my glass with a giggle, "For Midna and Dark. May they fuck each other's brains out!" I let out clumsily.

"Hear, hear!" Midna adds with a laugh. We down our drinks, and soon the room starts spinning and I sit on my bed; I'm finding it a little difficult to keep my balance. Everyone is suddenly giggling again, and we're all stumbling around and talking over each other. I feel the alcohol warming my face and I have a pleasant, happy feeling in my chest; I don't drink often, but I know that four shots is my limit. Midna turns to Karane and I and asks, "Are you guys hooking up with anyone tonight?"

"I don't have anyone in mind, but Zelda was telling me about this really hot guy in her O-group earlier," Karane giggles, hooking her arm to mine amicably.

Tetra and Midna rush my bed and squeal. "What's his name!? What's he look like!? Tell us everything!" Tetra shouts.

"I didn't say he was hot," I pout defensively at Karane, "I said he was cute."

"Same difference."

I blush and explain the day's events to the whole group, beginning with Link rescuing me from Groose, our lunch together, and his promise to dance with me tonight.

"Oh my God, Zel, he likes you!"

"No you guys, we were just hanging out," I try to counter, but I can't help but feel the sudden, warm flush on my face. It's the alcohol, I'm sure it is.

"Well it sounds like he's really into you," Karane sighs, nestling her head on my shoulder.

"One more round before we hit the road?" Midna asks. I decline, but everyone else takes a fifth shot. Faces flushed and adrenaline pumping, we make our way down to the dance, causing a loud, drunken ruckus and turning heads along the way.

We arrive at the dance and it's in full-swing; the dance floor is packed with sweaty, writhing bodies dancing to the beat of the pulsating electronic music. We stumble through the crowd and find an empty space near the center, and start dancing with each other. We're laughing and having a good time, when I feel a pair of giant hands on my waist. I soon find myself pressed against the one and only Groose, and he looks like he's had one too many drinks and is close to passing out. I grimace toward my friends, pleading with my eyes that they rescue me from the meathead's grasp. They grab onto my arms and pull me away, leading me further into the mass of grinding bodies.

Midna shouts over the ear-shattering noise, "We have to find Darth – Dark!" She quickly corrects her slurred words. "And Link!" We scan the crowd and then, surprise, surprise, it looks like Groose has found me once again. He starts grinding against me and I yelp, alerting my friends, who proceed to drag me away from the creepy asshole.

Once we feel we're a safe distance away, we settle down and begin to dance once again. I'm dancing mid-way through a song when I hear someone call my name.

"Zelda!"

I turn to see Link standing beside me, wearing a pair of fitted black jeans and a plain, dark-green tee, his shaggy, dark blond hair tousled carelessly on his head. He starts to say something to me, but it's damn near impossible to hear anything over the roaring sound of the music. I spot Groose's familiar pompadour, and it looks to be heading my way. Not this crap again. I grab Link's wrist and move in front of him, resuming my dancing. He stands motionless for a few moments, until I readjust his hands onto my waist. I make eye contact with Tetra, who smirks and gives me a thumbs-up. I look to Midna, and to my surprise she's locking lips with a tall, black-haired stranger. Tetra mouths something to me, and I can only assume that Midna finally found Dark.

Link and I grind and move to the beat of the music in perfect rhythm, and I am fully aware of the places where his fingertips touch my bare skin. We continue to dance like this for a couple of songs, until I hear a shrill, high-pitched voice call his name. "Fuck," I hear him whisper near my ear, the smell of alcohol heavy on his breath. "Link! I've b-been looking everywhere f-for yooou." I see a short, plain-looking girl with blonde hair trying to squeeze past a couple of bodies. Link grabs my hand and leads me away from the poor drunk girl.

"Sorry! That's Peatrice. She lives down the hall from me and hasn't left me alone all afternoon," Link shouts over the pounding music. We find yet another spot to dance in, free of Grooses and Peatrices. We quickly manage to get back into our rhythm, and I grind against him with even more intensity than before. I feel his hands slowly travel down from my waist and rest on my hips. We dance like this for a little while, until I start feeling restless and place my hands over his and guide them to my upper thighs. His head is bowed down next to mine, and I feel his heavy breathing heat up my neck pleasantly. We dance together, my body pressed tightly against his, and though we're surrounded by hundreds of sweaty, sloppy drunks I can't help but feel that we're the only two people on the dance floor. That is, until Tetra, Karane, and another boy I don't recognize enter my line of vision. Tetra and Karane take one look at me and their eyebrows shoot straight up, wide grins plastered on their faces.

The mysterious boy laughs out loud, "Does this mean I'm getting sexiled tonight?"

I blush heavily and look down at my feet in embarrassment. I mean, there's no reason to be embarrassed right? It's college, it's normal to hookup with a cute guy. Am I gonna hook up with Link tonight? How far will he want to go? How far am I willing to go? My alcohol-fueled mind is reeling with questions, and I almost don't notice that Link has stopped dancing. I turn to ask what's wrong, and the poor guy looks sick to his stomach. "I have to go Zel – sorry," he pats my shoulder abruptly and rushes past the crowd.

"Sorry, ladies, I better follow him, make sure he's okay." The mysterious boy waves goodbye and chases after Link.

"That was...weird." Tetra and Karane both look as confused as I do.

"Forget about it Zel; let's just have fun!"

I smile gratefully at my friends and take them up on their offer, but I can't seem to shake Link from my thoughts the rest of the night.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of my alarm the next morning, and I'm greeted by an immediate, pounding headache. "Uuugghhh, kill me now," I hear Karane moan from underneath a pillow. I check the time on my phone; two hours before convocation. I slowly make my way out of bed and over to my desk, searching for my bottle of Advil. I find it stashed in a drawer, hidden amongst scattered pens, pencils, and tampons. I unscrew the cap as quickly as I can and swallow two pills. I offer the bottle to Karane, who takes two pills herself. I grab the empty water bottle on my desk and make my way to the water fountain down the hall. As I'm refilling my bottle, I hear a door open and look up to find Midna standing over me, puffy-eyed and eyeliner smeared across her face.

Smirking slyly, she tells me, "Last night was _really_ fun." She sighs blissfully. "Is Karane awake? I'll tell you all about it in your room." We head back to my room and find Tetra sitting on my unmade bed, chatting up a storm to a clearly unreceptive Karane.

"Tetra, how are you not dying right now?"

She laughs. "I almost never get hangovers. I always drink tons of water after drinking, and it works like a charm," she says with a wink. We all mumble incoherent obscenities at our spry, fresh-faced friend, who simply laughs at our misery.

"Okay okay, shut up so I can tell you about my night!"

I sit down next to Tetra and Midna seats herself across from us, on Karane's bed. We soon get all the dirty details from the previous night, and I am honestly surprised by the girl's candor. I find out that they had sex in Midna's room, Dark is _extremely_ good at making her orgasm (three times!), and he has a small birthmark on his butt in the shape of a crescent moon. "Sounds like you had a lot of fun Mid," Tetra comments. "You think you guys will make this a regular thing?"

Midna shakes her fiery mane. "Nah. It was a lot of fun, but honestly, I can't get over how cocky he is when he's sober. Who knows though? Maybe if we're both drunk enough it can happen again."

"You're gonna see him again during convocation. Do you think it'll be awkward?" I ask her.

"Why should it be?" Besides the fact that he's seen her in her most vulnerable state and she barely even knows him? Of course, I refrain from saying any of this out loud; I don't want to sound too prudish or judgmental.

"Did you get to dance with Link?" I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Midna's questioning amber eyes. "Yeah, but it ended kinda weirdly." I tell her all about how Link once again rescued me from Groose, the weird, clingy girl who apparently kept following him all night, and how hot and heavy things got before he ran away.

"Don't take it personally Zel. I bet he just had to go throw up and was gentleman enough to excuse himself before he barfed all over you."

"Ugh that's gross, Midna." I toss a pillow at her and wrinkle my nose in disgust.

"Well, he did look kinda sick right before he left," Karane chimes in.

"You'll see him during convocation, just ask him what happened."

"But I wasn't expecting anything to happen between us. That was all you guys, remember?"

"No." They all reply in unison.

I roll my eyes at the three girls. "Speaking of convocation, it's in an hour and I still have to get ready," I say, shepherding Midna and Tetra out the door. "Let's do dinner later." I finish kicking them out of the room and Karane and I continue to get dressed in silence. I grab a piece of fruit from the top of our mini-fridge for a quick breakfast and we walk down to our auditorium together. We part ways once we locate our orientation groups, and I make my way over to the end of the line. It isn't long before I see Link walking up with the mysterious boy from last night. He waves, smiling that boyish smile of his, and heads straight towards me.

"See ya later Sheik," he says to the boy.

"Later. Bye Zel," he says with a wink.

"That's my roommate, Sheik. Feel free to ignore him."

There's a moment of awkward silence, and I chew my lip and contemplate the best way to ask about his strange behavior last night. Yeah, I know I said I wasn't expecting anything, but I'm still curious. Okay, I'll just get straight to the point.

"What happened last night?"

Link chuckles nervously and looks away, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets. "I had a little too much to drink last night. I didn't want to get sick on you or anything so..." he trails off, scratching his nose as a slight blush spreads across his face. So Midna was right. I guess I was worried for no reason. Wait a minute, I wasn't worried. They were.

"My friends kept shoving alcohol at my face, and like an idiot I drank all of it."

"Rookie mistake, bud."

Link continues to look away. "Yeah, but they insisted that all I needed was some liquid courage..."

"Liquid courage? For what?"

"Okay everyone! The ceremony's about to start, so line up single-file so we can head inside the auditorium," our O-leader shouts out instructions and everyone begins to scramble and try to transform our formless blob of people into one neat line. Link looks at me and shrugs his shoulders before taking his place in line behind me. Our O-leader hands out black, formal-looking gowns that we slip on before heading inside. We file into the auditorium and the seats quickly fill up, displaying the sheer enormity of the freshman class. The ceremony quickly begins and I doze off several times as we're forced to sit through endless repetitive speeches extolling the virtues of a college education. Convocation ends rather anti-climatically, with one final speech from the school president before we're finally freed from these frivolous orientation activities. Once outside, I ask Link about his plans for the day. He's suddenly tackled by Sheik, and they briefly start rough housing in front of me, before Sheik places Link in a headlock, emerging victorious. "Ready to go, Linky boy?"

"Where are you guys going?"

Sheik releases Link from his iron grip; kid must have been a wrestler in high school. "Link promised he'd take me to GameStop today. I brought my N64 from home but forgot my copy of Smash Bros., so we're hoping to find one nearby."

"Dude, I love Smash! I will kick anyone's ass with Kirby," I brag haughtily.

"Those are some pretty big words coming from such a small girl," Sheik teases.

"Bring it." I puff my chest out and stretch my arms open, receiving barking laughs from both boys at my pathetic attempt to look intimidating.

"Tell you what, give me your number and I'll text you once we have the game all set up." Link whips out his phone and looks at me expectantly. After I give him my information, Sheik leads him away, eager to find a copy of his beloved game.

I meet up with Karane and we have lunch in the cafeteria and stop by the bookstore to buy supplies for our classes tomorrow before returning to our room to tidy up from the night before. Tetra and Midna stop by later that afternoon and invite us to tan out in the lawn in front of Skyview. We lounge around lazily for about an hour before heading off to dinner. After dinner, I'm hanging out in Midna's room and helping her unpack when my phone vibrates, alerting me to a new text message.

_Are you ready to get your ass kicked :) ? _It's from an unknown number, but I quickly work out who it must be from. My phone vibrates once again.

_Uh, this is Link, by the way. Hi Zel. _I snort. What a dork.

"I just got a text from Link; he wants to hang out."

"Riiiight, 'hang out'," Tetra says, air quotes hanging in the air.

"Yes, hang out. We're just gonna play video games." I leave as quickly as possible to avoid any more teasing from my friends.

"I have condoms on my desk in case you need any!" I hear Karane shout after me, to the amusement of Tetra and Midna.

I head back to my dorm and grab my favorite purple hoodie before trekking over to Forest Haven. Once I'm outside, I shoot him a text.

_I'm freezing my ass off, let me in ._

A few minutes later, he opens the door and lets me into his dorm. I take in his dorm's décor; it's far cozier than my dorm. Skyview has linoleum floors in the rooms and hallways, and the walls are painted a sterile off-white color. Forest Haven, on the other hand, has soft moss-colored carpeting out in the hallways and the walls are a creamy beige color. We climb two flights of carpeted stairs and reach his floor. We walk through an open door and I see a blonde head poke out. "Link?" A girl emerges from her room, coy smile on her lips. Why does she look so familiar? "Are you busy?"

"Um sort of, what's up Peatrice?" Oh, it's that girl he was so desperately avoiding last night.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out? We can watch a movie in my room or something," she looks up at him, eyes shimmering with hope.

"I actually already have plans tonight, but maybe next time?" The disappointed girl nods her head, glares at me, and retreats back into her room. Link and I continue to make our way down the carpeted hall, and soon we reach the boys' wing.

"You really shouldn't get her hopes up, you little heartbreaker," I tease.

Link looks down at me, confused look clouding his bright blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

"She obviously likes you. You're getting her hopes up by promising to hang out at some point." I stick my finger in his chest accusingly. "And I'm assuming you don't feel the same way?"

"I was just trying to be nice!"

"Nice guys suck," I say, poking my tongue out at him. We walk in through his slightly open door, and Sheik and the dark-haired boy Midna hooked up with are both sitting on the floor, eyes glued to the screen. There is another good-looking, brown-haired boy sitting on a bed, controller in hand.

"That's what we've been trying to tell him!" Sheik exclaims, clearly having overheard our conversation in the hall.

"Why is she so into you?" I ask Link, who playfully punches Sheik's arm.

"I don't know. I saw her moving in with her dad, yesterday morning, and I wasn't busy so I lent them a hand." He takes off his dark-green flannel shirt, revealing a snug Dragon Roost Collective band t-shirt. That's one of my favorite bands; I'll have to ask him about his favorite songs later. "Her dad was a little weird; before he left he made me promise to look after her and keep boys away from her. And Peatrice has just been hanging off me since then," Link explained.

"Dude, that means your dad didn't consider you a threat. You're not man enough for his daughter," the dark-haired boy snorted.

"Or he thinks Link is a decent guy and won't take advantage of her," the brown-haired boy defended Link from his perch on the bed.

"Link isn't a decent guy, he's just too much of a wimp to make moves on any girl," Sheik chuckled.

"Why are we still talking about this?" Link asks, exasperation evident in his voice. I take a seat on the floor, next to the dark-haired boy and wait for my turn to play.

The game on-screen ends, and Sheik is announced the winner. He shouts in joy, and looks at me pointedly. "Ready to put your money where your mouth is?"

"I'm ready to make you beg for mercy," I spit venomously.

"Kinky," Midna's boy toy purrs, handing me his controller. He shoots me a charming smile, leaning into me just a little too close for comfort. "I'm Dark, by the way."

"Dark," Link says in warning, his narrowed blue eyes shooting daggers at his friend as he sits between us. There is a tense, silent moment and the boy on the bed pipes up from behind us.

"I'm Pipit, by the way," he says, taking my hand in his and shaking it vigorously. I look over him briefly, and he looks like a genuinely nice guy. He has dark brown eyes, short brown hair, and one of the most charismatic smiles I've ever seen on a person. "I'm Zelda," I say with a polite smile on my face.

"I've heard a lot about you."

"Only good things, I'm hoping," I look over at Link jokingly.

"Just that you're a cocky girl who talks a lot of smack," Pipit concedes.

My eyes narrow in disbelief as I glare accusingly at Link, who shoots me an innocent look. "It wasn't me!"

I hear Sheik snickering in the corner; okay, I'm ready to take this bastard down a peg.

We choose our characters and set the stage to Final Destination, no items. I choose the best character, pink Kirby, and Sheik chooses Captain Falcon; Pipit plays as Mario, and Link decides on Donkey Kong. We play furiously, and Pipit and Link are absolutely terrible. Sheik and I take turns knocking them out for easy points. I have to admit, Sheik plays a pretty mean game of Smash. I'm holding my own though, dishing out the blows just as well as he does. The timer on screen starts counting down, and Sheik and I are both on our feet, shouting obscenities at the screen and fingers furiously mashing buttons.

"Die Falcon, fucking die!"

"No! I'm not losing to a fucking pink marshmallow!"

I hear Link, Pipit, and Dark cackling with joy in the background. The game ends and Sheik and I wait to see who has emerged victorious, my palms sweaty with apprehension. "Sudden death!" the game shouts at us. Everyone in the room releases excited whoops, and Sheik and I try to focus on destroying the other. I release a relentless barrage of attacks but Sheik skillfully avoids them. Still, I refuse to give him an opening to attack me. We continue on like this for a while, with me attacking and Sheik evading. The game begins to drop bombs on our characters, and it is one of these bombs that finally wipes him out. Sheik roars in anger, while everyone else laughs and celebrates with me. I dance a little victory jig, and look down happily at Link, who gives me a strange look, faint smile on his lips. Sheik demands a rematch, and we play a few more rounds with Sheik and I taking turns winning games. After a while, I check the time on my phone and, holy crap! It's almost eleven.

"I have to go you guys, I have class at 8:30 in the morning," I say, yawning and stretching my arms.

"Are you sure? We were just about to light up in a little bit," Dark says, waggling his eyebrows and extracting a joint from the inside of his sweater.

"Maybe next time."

"Just so you know, the score's 5-4," Sheik gleefully reminds me.

"Well, I still won the first round," I boast, dodging the pillow that's flying towards my face. "I'll see you guys around. Do I just take the staircase near your room?" I ask, jerking my thumb in the direction of the stairs.

Link jumps to his feet, grabbing his flannel shirt from his bed. "I'll walk you back to your dorm."

I bid goodbye to his friends and we begin the long trek back to Skyview.

"Sorry about Dark, I haven't known him very long, but the guy's kind of a womanizer."

I nod my head in agreement, my blonde, still straightened hair bouncing along with the movement. "He hooked up with one of my friends last night."

"Oh!" He exclaims, eyes wide and a faint blush spreading across his face.

Huh, Dark must have a pair of loose lips. I hope Midna doesn't mind. We walk in silence for a bit, Link looking down at his feet and fidgeting with his fingers.

"Calm down, will ya!" I playfully nudge his arm.

He laughs quietly and explains, "Sorry, it's kind of a nervous tic."

"Why are you nervous?"

He quickly glances over to me and shrugs his shoulders.

"Dork." I say, smirking mischievously in hopes of diffusing some of the tension in the air. Before I know it we're standing outside of my dorm. I stop momentarily before turning to him. "Thanks for tonight; I had fun," I smile.

"Me too." He looks away for a few seconds before stepping forward and pulling me in for a hug.

"Don't be a stranger, Zel."

* * *

**A/N: Chapter two is here! Special thanks to NayruSapphire, fireygummybears, and Grassy Nol for reviewing! And thanks to those who favorited and/or followed my story! So, Link calls Zelda his Padawan, which is a Star Wars reference. Full disclosure: I have never watched a single Star Wars movie. I know, I know, I'm kind of a failure of a human being. I only know what a Padawan is because my brother went through this phase where he would condescendingly call everyone in the family his Padawan. But I promise I'll watch the movies as soon as I can (I probably won't - don't hold me to that). **

**I managed to sneak in a little bit of Peatrice into my story, who I personally thought was one of the more heartbreaking characters from Skyward Sword. Unrequited love hurts you guys! **

**Super Smash Bros. 64 is heavily played at my school, and it felt fitting to have the characters love the game as well. Although I love Link, Kirby was simply the best character in Smash 64. And speaking of Link, which one is your guys' favorite reincarnation? I love Skyward Sword Link, he just seems like the first one who you can actually get a sense of his personality. Plus, just how hard he tries to rescue Zelda, ugh, it's just too damn cute, that game. Anyway, I'm rambling now, sorry.**

**Expect the next chapter sometime within the next week (it's already half-written). And the pace and tone for the Chapter 3 is gonna be a little different from these past two, but don't be alarmed!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own Zelda.

* * *

Unfortunately, I rarely saw Link over the following semester. The first couple of weeks were a whirlwind as I tried to balance a harder workload, a functioning social life, and a healthy sleeping schedule. We didn't have any classes together, we had different sets of friends and ran with different crowds, and Hyrule U. is a giant school (over 8,000 students!), so we very rarely ran into each other on campus. That first semester my classes were more difficult than anything I'd ever taken in high school, but they were also in a subject I am extremely passionate about. It was in my Intro to the Three Goddesses class that I first met Shad, who became my first long-term boyfriend. He's a quiet, bookish type of guy from Castle Town, which is only a couple hours away from Old Hyrule, and he loves history just as much as I do. We are always going on dates to different kinds of museums and exploring all the ancient ruins around Old Hyrule. He can be a little too serious sometimes, but I do love him and care for him a lot. I still remember when I first met up with Link and told him about Shad, and seeing the disappointment in his face that he couldn't convincingly conceal.

We had already met up and hung out a couple of times that semester, smoking with his friends, playing video games in his room, and going out and trying new restaurants. We were meeting for lunch on campus and talking about our friends and classes when I brought up Shad. I remember that he couldn't quite meet my eyes, and he became very quiet and kept playing with his food.

It was after that awkward lunch that I realized he had liked me, and I'll admit I was a bit torn at first. I had liked him too and enjoyed hanging out with him, but I took his lack of advances as a sign that he wasn't into me. Seriously, the guy would NOT make any moves. I thought I was being an obvious flirt too; touching him whenever I could, laughing at his stupid jokes. I would even rest my head in his lap all the fucking time. Like, how the fuck is that not obvious? Stupid Link. Anyway, I knew I had to let him go; it would be unfair to Shad to continue hanging out with someone I suspected of liking me and who I may still have some feelings for.

We stopped hanging out for a while after that, and I tried not to think about what could've been. It was during a chance encounter with Link during my spring semester that I found out he had a girlfriend. I couldn't help feeling a little bitter when I first learned of her, but I chalked it up to my own vanity; I was jealous that he had gotten over me. Her name is Ruto Watters, and she was a pretty Zora girl who was a year ahead of us. She was in one of my lectures and I did not like her at all. She was a bit of an obnoxious know-it-all, and I had met her at a few parties and she struck me as the stereotypical sorority girl. Her father owned a swanky country club in the very elite Lake Hylia, and as a result she was practically drowning in cash and never lost the opportunity to flaunt it. I honestly do not know what Link sees in the girl, but he seems happy when he was talks about her, and I guess that's all that matters, right?

We begun to hang out regularly again after that, and we wasted no time falling back into our old habits. We had a very similar taste in music and constantly went to concerts and music festivals together. We continued to try new restaurants and frequent all of our favorites, including Zoradora!, which I considered to be the birthplace of our friendship (cheesy, I know). He complained about Ruto being a picky eater and unwilling to go food-tasting with him and always voiced his appreciation for me. I knew Shad liked trying new foods, but I always wanted to try things out with Link before I took Shad. Does that make me a bad girlfriend? Karane said something about it once that made me feel a little bad, but whatever. I mean, I was Link's friend first before I became Shad's girlfriend.

As part of his major, Link constantly went around the world every summer and winter break on excavations. He always managed to bring me back a souvenir. The boy spoiled me and I quickly came to expect gifts from him whenever he returned, which he complied with good-naturedly. Every summer, I had an internship at different museums around the country, gaining experience in curating and being able to put my expertise in history to good use. I also gradually stopped hanging out with most of my high school friends. The first summer I went back home, they were all eager to reconvene and talk about how annoying everyone at their schools were and how everyone tried so hard and came off as desperate. They never really talked about what they wanted to do with their lives but they were really into bashing others for having goals and ambitions. The summer after my sophomore year, I came back to find out that many of these friends had dropped out of school and had moved back to New Hyrule, lazing around unemployed and living off of their trust fund money. They constantly tried to convince me to follow in their footsteps and wanted me to drop out as well. It wasn't until an incident with my so-called friends at a party that finally convinced me to cut ties with them and never look back. Karane, Midna, and Tetra were visiting me at the time and we were invited to go to a warehouse party with my other friends one night. We all went, as my college friends were interested in the nightlife in New Hyrule. I was hanging out with my friends all night, and it was Vaati, who to be honest had always creeped me out a little in high school, who roofied my drink in hopes of taking advantage of me. Luckily, my real friends were there to take care of me and make sure I made it home safely. During the subsequent fallout, most of my old friends sided with Vaati and accused me of trying to hurt him for my own self-interest (which still makes absolutely no sense to me). I haven't talked to many of them since and have not regretted a thing. My new friends are miles better anyway.

Tetra, an international diplomacy major, took a semester off to work with our Council of Nations the fall of our junior year and made valuable connections with various diplomats. She is interested in working with refugees seeking asylum from other countries. She has also been the captain of the swim team since her sophomore year and has led the team to multiple victories. She's also started seeing the captain of the water polo team, a big buff guy named Gonzo. Tetra pretends she doesn't like him as much as she does, but she's just putting up a front. Underneath that tough girl attitude she tends to give off she's secretly a giant sweetheart.

Midna is also an international diplomacy major and also worked at the Council of Nations the summer before our junior year. As a Twili, she is interested in one day becoming the ambassador to her parents' home country. She has yet to be tamed and continues to have wild flings and one night stands. She's careful about it, and really, as long as she's happy it's all that matters.

Karane, a journalism major, has been busy juggling internships with big newspaper publications and making time to spend with her friends and her long-time boyfriend, Pipit. They're both from Skyloft and actually went to high school together, they just never got to hang out then because the school was so big. They happened to take the same Public Policy 101 class the spring semester of their freshman year and supported each other in class because they were the only person the other knew. They gradually became closer and closer and by finals week they were a full-fledged couple. They're perfect for each other; Karane wants to help people by becoming a journalist and exposing people to the corruption in our political system, while Pipit wants to help people by becoming a politician himself in order to make much-needed changes to our country. Dream big, kid.

...

...

Most of college flies by in such a blur, before I know it it's the summer before my senior year. I've just come back home from a ten week internship at the Museum of Ancient Hyrulian History, located an hour south of Hyrule U. I've been home a little less than a week, and I've been lazing around the house, being a general nuisance to my parents. They've been getting ready to leave on a two-week long cruise, which starts tomorrow morning, so they're understandably feeling a little harried.

"Are you sure you're okay with us leaving, honey?" My mom asks for the umpteenth time as she stirs the pot of stew on the stove. I sigh as I continue to chop up some carrots.

"Mom, seriously, I'll be fine. Tetra, Midna, and Karane are coming over and they'll keep me company." My parents have been planning this cruise for months and they leave tomorrow morning, and it just so happens that my birthday is this weekend. It's not their fault though; we just had a little misunderstanding and they thought my internship was two weeks longer than it really was, which is why they booked their cruise then.

"I think we can trust Zelda to be on her own for two weeks anyway. She is turning 21," my dad chimes in, dicing onions on the counter. I thankfully smile in his direction. My dad understands that I'm really not upset at all that they'll be gone; this will be their first major vacation in about 5 years and they deserve it. My mom, on the other hand, thinks that I'm absolutely devastated that they won't be here to usher in my 21st year of existence. In reality, I'm secretly thrilled. Like I said before, Tetra, Midna, and Karane are flying out to see me, and I'm inviting a few other people to hang out the night of my birthday. It's not really a party, since I'm not inviting too many people, but we will be drinking a lot and it'll be nice to not have to worry about disapproving parents spoiling the fun. Shad is flying in tomorrow night from Castle Town. I declined to offer that detail to my parents because although I'm legally an adult, they probably wouldn't like me spending so much time alone with my boyfriend in their house. Link is also coming over this weekend; his girlfriend, Ruto, recently graduated this past spring and she's moved to New Hyrule. He's flying in later this week to help her get settled. I'm also inviting the few people I still talk to from high school: Darunia, a sweet, giant Goron boy (well, I guess he's a man now?) who is fiercely protective over his friends and threatened to beat Vaati into a bloody pulp (I had to talk him down); and Saria, a really nice girl who I sort of talked to in high school and is one of Darunia's best friends.

Once dinner is served, my parents and I sit and share the meal while talking about all the places they'll visit on their cruise. The ship will travel to many islands off the coast, like Outset, Windfall, and Koholint, and even to places outside the country, most notably Termina Bay. We finish eating and wash the dishes, and I excuse myself and head to my room to make sure it's clean. Shad is kind of a neat freak, and while I'm not too messy, my level of cleanliness sometimes doesn't quite meet his standards. After I finish making the room look semi-decent, I settle in for the night and watch a documentary on the displacement of the Twili people at the turn of the first millennium on my laptop while eating cherry vanilla ice-cream in bed. God it feels so good to be lazy sometimes. I doze off sometime during the night and wake up early the next morning to the sound of my mom shouting my name. Crap, they're leaving. I bolt out of bed and head towards the living room to see them off, where I find my parents lugging their bags to the front door.

"Ok honey, we left you enough money on top of the fridge to buy groceries for the next two weeks."

"I told you guys I can take care of that myself."

My mom ignores me, continuing, "We'll have our cell phones with us at all times in case you have to reach us. The emergency numbers are on the fridge."

"Mom, I'm almost 21. I think I'll be fine on my own. I was living by myself in Old Hyrule the past ten weeks and I came out in one piece," I remind her.

"Just be safe, okay? I promise we'll get you something nice from every place we visit."

"You don't have to," I mumble as she swoops in for a hug and kisses my forehead.

"Promise not to burn the house down?" My dad half-jokingly asks as he pulls me in for a crippling bear hug and kisses my cheek.

"You always said not to make any promises you can't keep," I reply wryly, smirking mischievously.

I get a chuckle out of the big guy, who pats my shoulders and hands me a crisp three-hundred dollar Rupee. "Treat your friends to dinner."

"Dad, this is way too much," I reply in awe, mouth slightly ajar as I try to hand it back. He deftly avoids me and follows my mom to the car to help her load up the suitcases. I shrug and pocket the money and watch them from the doorway as they finish up and start the car. "Have fun you guys!" I shout, waving at them as they back out of the driveway. My mom blows one final kiss and then they're off.

I make my way back inside and fix myself a bowl of cereal and mentally run through my agenda for the day. Let's see, I have to pick up Shad from the airport around seven tonight. And...my mind draws a blank. I guess that's all I have planned today. I gleefully take advantage of my last lazy afternoon; I'll be busy entertaining guests for the next two weeks and I probably won't have as much time for myself as I have now. I spend the afternoon stocking up on booze; I buy the requisite fancy wines and spend the rest of my money on beer, hard alcohol, and mixers. I come home and watch a few hours of trashy reality TV while nursing a cold beer. Soon, I get a text from Shad telling me he's landed and I'm on my way to the airport. I hit a nasty bout of traffic and inwardly curse at myself for not leaving the house sooner. After about half an hour of being stuck in slow-moving traffic, I finally arrive at the airport. I see Shad sitting on the curb playing with his phone, bags and suitcase by his side. I honk my horn twice and he looks up. He smiles once he spots my car and, gathering his belongings, he runs enthusiastically towards me. After I help him load his bags in the trunk, we buckle up and make our way back to my house.

"Sorry about the wait, traffic was terrible," I apologize.

"Don't worry about it, Zellie," he smiles, squeezing my hand gently. I furrow my brows slightly; I never liked that nickname, but I've just never had the heart to tell him. "How was summer research?" I ask him. Shad is planning on writing his senior thesis on the historical background leading up to the Twili invasion of Hyrule in the Middle Ages and spent his whole summer helping Professor Zant with his research on the field. Even though we were only an hour apart from each other it was really hard to make time to see each other because of our busy schedules.

"It was amazing! I helped Zant translate some ancient Twili into modern Hylian, which he's going to use to translate other scrolls that have been unreadable until now," he gushes excitedly.

"Shad, that's huge! You're definitely gonna get that recommendation for grad school, for sure." Shad has been worrying about asking Professor Zant to write a recommendation for his grad school application. We're both in the process of applying to grad school and it's been incredibly stressful. It's way harder than I remember applying to college ever was. To be honest, I'm not sure if I even want to go. But when I told Shad that, he started freaking out about my future, which made me freak out, and well, here we are now.

"Yeah, I'm not too worried about that anymore. But what about you? Do you know yet who you're going to ask?"

"Yeah, no, let's not talk about that," I laugh nervously. He looks at me worriedly but I ignore it. I pull into my driveway and help bring his bags into the house. I tackle him with a hug and place a passionate kiss on his lips, sending his glasses askew. He chuckles and returns the kiss chastely.

"Do you wanna use the hot tub? I turned it on a couple hours ago so it should be nice and ready for us by now," I ask, my arms wrapped around his neck.

"That sounds wonderful." He digs through his bags to find his swimming shorts and I head to my room to change into my bikini. Shad and I have been together since my freshman year; our three-year anniversary is coming up in about three months. He comes from an elite, scholarly family in Castle Town, so he sometimes can come off a bit stuffy and slightly snobby to those who don't know him too well. He's a very intelligent guy, and hopes to one day become a history professor at a prestigious university. He's also kind of a goody two-shoes; he never smokes, very rarely drinks, and he's still so innocent that I almost always have to initiate sex. I'll be honest, the sex thing is kind of annoying, but I think it's pretty admirable that he's been able to stick to his convictions and has never once bucked to peer pressure. I do feel bad on occasion when I smoke with my friends or with Link and his friends and I just try not to bring it up around Shad. I don't want him thinking I'm a stereotypical, lazy stoner or something.

We spend the rest of the night drinking wine and relaxing in the hot tub before calling it a night. The next morning I wake up in Shad's arms and try to extract myself as quietly as possible. I grab some clothes from my dresser and take a long, rejuvenating shower. By the time I'm out, Shad's already fully dressed and ready to start the day. We decide to grab brunch at a nearby bistro, and we're quietly chatting after our meal when I get a call from Karane.

"It's Karane, is it ok if I get this?" I ask politely.

"Of course, of course," he nods his sandy brown hair.

"Hello?"

"_Heeey Zel!"_

"Heeey to you too," I grin. She wants something. Or she has bad news to tell me. "Don't tell me you won't be able to make it tomorrow?" I ask a bit worriedly.

_"__No way, I'll be there. I was just wondering if it was cool if I brought Pipit along?"_ she asks tentatively.

"Of course he can come! You know I love the guy."

_"__Great! Because he bought a plane ticket since I had already told him you were okay with it."_

"Karane..." I sigh, and my friend cackles joyfully into my ear. But really, what if I had said no? We say goodbye and I face Shad, amused expression on his face. "Is she bringing her boyfriend? Pipette*, was it?"

"It's Pipit!" I kick his chair playfully. "And yes, he's coming tomorrow, so please try to get along?" Shad and Pipit have a slightly antagonistic relationship (although it's really only from Shad's side). They took the same Ethics in Government class and got into a heated in-class debate one day. According to many who were in class that day, Pipit roundly won the debate, and Shad hasn't quite forgiven him since. See, Shad hates being wrong and feeling inferior to anyone, so being publicly humiliated in an academic setting dealt a heavy blow to his ego. He's also really good at holding grudges.

Shad and I pay for our meals and head back home to watch a few history documentaries on TV. I soon get a text from Midna and Tetra telling me they've arrived at the airport. Fuck, I thought they were coming in tomorrow! Shad and I race as quickly as possible to the airport, where I find the radiant Tetra and always stunning Midna sitting on their luggage, being ogled by passing men and women alike. I honk and Shad waves at them before getting out the car and helping them with their bags.

They all pile into my car and I make my way back home from the airport for the second time in less than 24 hours. "How was Outset?" I ask the two girls.

"Gorgeous! Zel, you should've been there," Midna begins, throwing her head back dramatically.

"I took her to all the local surfing spots and the best beaches we have. We even saw a few dolphins!" Tetra adds excitedly. This was Midna's first time visiting Outset Island, and she's lucky she had Tetra as a tour guide to the beautiful island.

"And the men, Zelda. My god, the men," Midna chimes in. I snort at her from behind the wheel.

"Any keepers?"

"You always ask that, and the answer's always the same. I will not be tied down!" she proclaims.

"You got a lot tanner," I note her darkened hue, looking at her from the rearview mirror. "You look good."

"I look _fine_," Midna boasts, to everyone's amusement.

We reach my house and I help them settle into one of the guest rooms. My parents have a huge house; they have a giant master bedroom with its own bathroom, complete with a tub with jets and a walk-in closet. Then we have my room, the second biggest in the house. We also have two, slightly smaller guest bedrooms, and my parents converted half of the basement into office space so they could work from home. We also have a pool and a hot tub, along with a covered patio in the backyard. I have to admit, I grew up pretty spoiled.

"So Karane called earlier and said Pipit's also coming over," I hear an annoyed sound of disapproval from Shad but I ignore him. "So, you guys are gonna have to share this room and Karane and Pipit get the other one."

"I didn't know we were allowed to bring boys," Midna jokingly whines, eyeing Shad.

"No boys, only boyfriends," I tease. Tetra howls in laughter at Midna's slightly wounded , she'll get over it.

"You know I'm afraid of commitment!" she exclaims over our laughter.

"Who else is coming over?" Shad asks.

"Some old friends, Darunia ("I liked him!" Tetra exclaims), and one of his friends. And Link and his girlfriend," I count off on my fingers. The scowl on Shad's face doesn't escape my notice, but I don't bring attention to it.

"Why is he still with her?" Midna asks sourly. Ruto and Midna have a dicey history. At one point during the first semester our freshman year, before Link and Ruto were an item, Midna was interested in joining a sorority. She went to a party one night and was confronted by a drunken Ruto, who accused Midna of sleeping with her ex. She called her names and was rude to her to the point that Midna had to leave the party before she lost her temper and wailed on the delicate Zora. Needless to say, Midna soon lost interest in the sorority lifestyle and the two girls have been hostile towards each other ever since.

"Beats me. All his friends hate her." I shrug my shoulders. "No fighting, okay?" I tell Midna.

"As long as she stays out of my way, she'll be fine," Midna mutters darkly.

I decide to change the subject. "So what do you guys wanna do today?"

Tetra peers out the window. "Well, your pool is looking mighty fine." She looks over at me expectantly.

"She's a real beaut," I whistle, "Let's go swimming!" We all change into our bathing suits and spends the rest of the afternoon swimming and sunbathing by the poolside. We're watching a movie that night after dinner, when Midna pipes up.

"Would you guys maybe be interested in a little smoke sesh? We brought back some of the best weed they have in Outset," Midna grins. I look over at Shad nervously; he knows I smoke sometimes but I try not to bring it up around him.

"Go ahead, I'm feeling a little tired anyway," he nods his head stiffly and abruptly gets up and heads toward my room.

"Sorry," Midna whispers. I simply shake my head and lead them to our patio. "How did you guys sneak this past airport security?" I ask, impressed by their sheer audacity. "Eh, it's really not that hard," Tetra dismisses with a wave of her hand. We begin to smoke, and I feel myself mellow out and feel more relaxed. Man, I love Shad, but why does he have to be such a damn killjoy sometimes? Oops, that was mean. I shouldn't have thought that.

"I'm really sorry about earlier. You know, with Shad," Midna begins to apologize again, but I shake my head. "Don't worry about it, Mid. That's his problem." The three of us continue to hang out, reminiscing about the past and gossiping over frivolous things. We soon begin to feel hunger pangs, despite the fact that we just had dinner two hours ago, and we head inside to scavenge for food. We grab ice-cream from the freezer, and Tetra squeals in excitement when she opens the fridge. "I've hit the motherload!" She rummages through drawers and emerges with armfuls of smoked salmon and several cheeses: chèvre, taleggio, mascarpone, mozzarella. Midna and I gasp in excitement, and I run to the pantry to pull out packets of crackers while Midna opens a bottle of wine. We settle on the couch with our snacks and find a fun, stupid movie to watch. Once it ends, we get up, yawning and stretching, and head to bed. I'm quiet as I duck under the covers, careful so I don't wake Shad. I stare at his sleeping back with a mixture of guilt and bitterness; I feel bad for making him feel disappointed, but I'm also slightly ticked off that something that I and many others my age don't consider to be a big deal can make him upset. Am I being a bad girlfriend? Or do I actually have a right to feel frustrated? I fight these conflicting feelings until I finally slip into a restless sleep.

* * *

I wake up early the next morning to pick up my final guests from the airport. I quietly make my way to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast and find Tetra eating a bowl of cereal.

"Why are you up so early?" I ask the vivacious blonde, pouring myself a bowl.

"You know I can never sleep in," she responds, mouth full of crunchy cereal. "Midna's out like a rock though." Classic Midna.

"Well, do you wanna go pick up Karane and Pipit with me?" She nods her head eagerly, and we finish eating and wash up before heading out the door. We pick up an understandably drowsy Pipit and Karane from the airport; they took a red-eye flight out of Skyloft in order to make it this morning. During the ride home we see them snuggled asleep in my backseat, their arms wrapped tightly around one another, and Tetra and I silently squeal in delight. They're so damn cute it's making me sick.

I take them back to my house where I brew a pot of our strongest coffee to wake us up. Midna walks into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes, when she spots Karane. They both squeal and run towards each other, gripping one another tightly.

"I haven't seen you all summer!"

"I know, I missed you! You've gotten so tan!"

"You too!"

We watch the scene play out in amusement. Midna looks over at Pipit and welcomes him with a hug. Karane excuses herself to use the restroom, kissing Pipit's forehead before she leaves. That's when Tetra and Midna assault him.

"So, when are you gonna ask her to marry you?" Midna asks, patting his cheek affectionately.

"And how long are you guys gonna wait before you have your first kid?" Tetra adds cheekily. Pipit turns a very bright red, refusing to meet our eyes.

"What's going on Pipit?" I ask the brown-haired boy cautiously.

"I've actually been planning on proposing, but I don't know how to do it," he admits quietly, the crimson blush on his face reaching the tips of his ears. Tetra and Midna gasp and I nearly drop my cup of coffee.

"Pipit, are you serious!?"

"It doesn't matter how you do it, she'll say yes no matter what!"

"Have you bought an engagement ring yet?" We attack him with an endless barrage of questions, until he hushes us when we hear a bedroom door open. Shad walks in and I see a flicker of annoyance in his eyes when he sees Pipit.

"Shad! How have you been?" The always charismatic Pipit immediately engages the reluctant Shad in conversation, who goes along with it out of sheer politeness. Karane comes back and greets Shad happily. Karane thinks Shad is a wonderful guy. Recently she's been asking me if I think Shad is "The One", since we've both been with our boyfriends for about the same time. Karane is absolutely in love with Pipit so I think it's great that they're both on the same page about their relationship. Personally, I think we're still a little too young to be thinking about that. I mean, come on, marriage? We're only 21 (well, almost)! Karane's the real reason Shad and I are together in the first place. I remember being reluctant about giving him a chance, probably because I was still a little hung up about Link. And I just thought he was a little too nerdy for me. Yeah, I know, I'm shallow. She convinced me to go out with him at least once to try it out and we had a lot of fun on our date. We've been together ever since, and I owe it all to Karane.

We spend the day going out to several museums and art galleries. This is Pipit's first time in New Hyrule and I want to show him all the best my city has to offer. We turn in early for the night because Karane and Pipit are still tired from their early flight. The next day we spend the afternoon at the beach before going back to my house to get ready for our other guests.

We're all in the kitchen, going over our alcoholic inventory. "I bought a ton of wine, because we are going to ring in my birthday with class," I announce to my friends. "But I also bought a bunch of whiskey and tequila because I couldn't help myself."

"Classic Zelda," Tetra snorts. "Are those our only options? Hard liquor or bougie wine?"

"No, we also have some Fat Tires and Woodchucks in the fridge," I mutter defensively.

"What about snacks?" Pipit asks.

"We still have some cheese that survived from a few nights ago, and I bought salsa and guacamole. If we get really hungry we can order takeout or something," I shrug. I glance over at the clock on the stove and start freaking out. "I told everyone to show up at 8! I have half an hour to get ready!" I exclaim. I grab my friends' arms and drag them to my room to help me get ready, leaving Shad and Pipit behind. Whatever, they'll deal with it.

As I'm sitting on the floor, rummaging through dressers and tossing clothes all over the room, I hear Karane speak up from behind.

"You're putting a lot of effort into this, aren't you?" Huh. I don't really like her tone just now.

"I just wanna look good is all," I reply.

"But you're just hanging out with friends. Just pick something you'd normally wear." I'm about to respond before Midna beats me to it. "Zel just wants to look extra special on her special day." She picks a pair of black leather shorts and a studded, olive green top. "I think you'll look pretty hot in this." I smile and whisper my thanks, just audible enough for Midna to hear. She nods understandingly. I finish getting ready just in time to hear the doorbell ring. I open the door and see Darunia and Saria standing at my doorstep, smiling widely.

"Happy birthday Zelda!" they cry in unison, the large, gruff Goron overpowering me with a hug.

"It's not much, and I know you said no presents, but Saria and I got you a little something." He presents me with an unopened bottle of Pinot Blanc.

"No fair!" I hear Tetra shout from the living room. We all laugh and I invite my two friends inside, thanking them for their gift.

"Seriously, the no present rule exists for a reason. You break it and you make everyone else look bad," Tetra complains good-naturedly to Darunia.

"That's what I was saying but the big guy wouldn't listen," Saria chimes in shyly.

"I love your hair," Midna says in awe. Saria smiles graciously and thanks her; the aspiring musician is known for dyeing her hair all kinds of crazy colors, and she is currently rocking a neon green bob. We continue to talk and break into our supply of alcohol, lounging around the outside patio. It's almost 9 and I notice that Link still isn't here. What's keeping him? I bet Ruto is forcing him to stay at home. Ugh, that's so like her. Wait, Zelda, you're jumping to conclusions here. As I try to escape my negative thoughts, I almost miss the shrill sound of my doorbell repeatedly ringing and annoying the rest of my friends.

"Someone's awfully persistent, eh?" Shad grimaces.

"Must be Link. I'll be back," I say, bounding towards the front door.

* * *

Somehow, word had gotten out about my little get-together, and pretty soon strangers and vague acquaintances were spilling out of my house. There were people like Nabooru Spirit, who was an okay chick but who I hadn't talked to since high school. Last I heard she had gone on a motorcycling trip around the country with Koume and Kotake, two older, bitchy Gerudo girls who also happen to be rummaging through my fridge at the moment. I just finished talking to Jolene Oceans, who is outside playing beer pong with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Linebeck. Jolene is a lot of fun but you definitely don't want to get on her bad side; she's been known to set a few of Linebeck's possessions on fire during some of their off-phases. They are both playing against Talo Martin and his younger brother Malo, who is definitely way too young to be here.

I also see little ol' Mido Woods in my living room; he was always sensitive about his height and had developed a sort of Napoleon complex about it but the guy was absolutely harmless. He also had a huge crush on me in high school, now that I remember. He's sitting on my couch with a bunch of his high school friends, smoking cigarettes and using one of my mom's Good Housekeeping magazines as an ashtray.

"Hey! If you're gonna smoke you assholes better take it outside!" I push the wannabe biker gang, clad in black leather jackets, out to the patio. I come back inside and head towards the kitchen, where I see Shad sitting with Midna. Seriously, where the hell is Link? Midna stealthily pours herself a glass of the Pinot Blanc that Darunia and Saria brought and I wordlessly slide my glass across the counter to her, which she fills and hands back to me.

"Where did all these people come from?"

"I have no idea, Mid." I notice the pile of empty beer bottles on the kitchen table, a cheap brand my friends and I don't drink. "At least they brought their own alcohol," I note with a shrug. Admittedly, I am a little pissed off that so many people I barely know are at my house. But so far, no one's done any major damage, I was able to lock all the bedrooms, and a lot of them brought their own cheap beer so they're not draining our personal supplies. Everyone just seems to need an outlet to release all this pent-up energy, and I guess I'm okay with being the (reluctant) hostess.

"Well _I_ think it's a little rude," Shad scoffs, sipping carefully from his glass. Poor guy. He's never been a big fan of crowds or parties, and he would much rather spend a quiet evening inside drinking wine and watching documentaries on the history channel. He was already a little nervous about having to hang out with a smaller group of people today, so I can only imagine how anxious he must feel right now.

I rub soothing circles on his back. "It's just for a couple more hours," I say.

I suddenly hear the faint sound of our doorbell, barely audible over the loud voices inside and the trap music blaring from outside. "I hear someone at the door."

I excuse myself and make my way to the living room, navigating around the furniture and clustered groups of people. I hear the shrill door bell ring repeatedly and more persistently. "I'm coming, asshole!" I shout as I open the door.

"Charming as always."

"Link!" The tall, blond-haired, beanie-wearing boy slouches in front of me, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his navy blue jacket.

He smirks as he swoops down and embraces me tightly. "Happy birthday Zel," he mumbles into my hair.

"You're late," I mutter into his neck. I hear a faint cough behind him and he hastily releases me. I see Ruto standing behind him, eyeing me suspiciously. We smile insincerely, the kind of smile you give someone when you want to look polite but you both know you really hate each other.

"How have you been?" I ask politely.

"I'm good." She answers curtly. Okay then. After a beat of silence, in which it's clear Ruto has no intention of conversing with me, I invite them inside.

"I've got a bunch of alcohol and food inside," I say, leading them to the kitchen. "There are also a ton of people here; I have no idea how they found out, but the more the merrier, right?"

The bitch clearly pays no attention to what I tell her, because I hear her grumble to Link, "I wish you would've told me this was going to be an actual party. I would've dressed up."

"You look fine, hon," he reassures her. I wish you would've just stayed home Ruto, but you don't hear me complaining.

We run into Shad and Midna in the kitchen, drinking and chatting by the counter. "Hey Link!" Midna lights up. She spots Ruto and sneers before hugging Link tightly. Poor Link, who's never been particularly close to Midna, looks taken aback but returns the hug.

"You've gotten really tan," he notes.

"I look good, don't I?" she giggles, touching his chest. "You're looking pretty good yourself," she purrs. I've been friends with Midna for 3 years now, but the nerve of that girl still manages to catch me off guard every now and then. I mean, she's flirting with Link while his girlfriend is standing _right here_! Pretty ballsy, Mid, I'll give you that.

Ruto is absolutely furious; her face is flushed crimson red with anger. Link, meanwhile, is smiling awkwardly at Midna and can't fight the faint blush invading his cheeks. Shad and I quickly exchange glances, his worried, mine amused. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, I hand Midna a bottle of wine.

"Hey Mid, I think Tetra wanted something to drink. She's out by the hot tub." She takes the bait and heads outside, but not before smirking at Ruto. Link looks at me, confusion etched in his features, and I simply smile and shake my head.

"Can I offer you guys anything to drink?" I ask the two new guests, opening the fridge. Link moves behind me, peering over my shoulder and spotting something he likes.

"Ooh, I'll take a Woodchuck! Hon, do you want anything?" he turns to look at Ruto, who is leaning against the counter with her arms crossed.

"No."

Link and I exchange a quick glance, and he shrugs his shoulders. I hand him a bottle of the hard cider and take one for myself.

Link swivels around and grins politely at Shad.

"How's it going?" he shakes his hand politely. "Zelda says you were doing research for Professor Zant this summer?"

Shad's eyes light up, eager at the chance to talk about his favorite subject. "I got to research the Twili invasion of Hyrule in the Middle Ages and was able read first-hand accounts of the invasion written by Hylians and Twilis. These were centuries-old scrolls that I had access to! It was incredible," Shad exclaims.

"He helped translate a scroll from ancient Twili to modern Hylian, which Professor Zant is gonna use to translate a whole mess of previously unreadable texts!" I brag excitedly on his behalf.

"Dude, that's awesome!" Link holds up his hand for a high-five, which Shad awkwardly gives. As the boys continue their conversation, I notice that Ruto has been standing by silently this whole time, looking bored and staring at the various people in my house.

"How are you liking New Hyrule?" I ask politely.

"It's great," Ruto attempts to smile, but manages a wrinkled grimace. Really, she tries any harder to be nice and she'll end up hurting herself.

"Is it any different from Lake Hylia?" I'm trying here.

"Weather's about the same," she responds flatly. I sigh inwardly; Link and Shad's conversation is winding down and frankly, I'm tired of this awkward small talk about academia and the fucking weather.

"There are more people hanging out back; I think a bunch of people are playing beer pong."

"Beer pong? How old are we again?" Link says in mocking disbelief. I laugh; it wasn't too long ago that we partook in these activities back when we lived in dorms. But of course, as rising seniors we are too good and too mature for silly drinking games. Or so we like to think.

"Oh! Pipit's here too!" I remember. Link perks up.

"Is he outside?" he asks, eager to be reunited with his friend.

I nod my head. "He should be with Karane."

"Figures," he mutters good-heartedly, walking towards the living room before he stops.

"How do I get outside?" he looks at me confusedly.

"Right! Let me give you guys a quick tour," I beckon Link and Ruto towards me, leaving Shad behind in the kitchen. I first show them the basement, which I've locked to keep people outside. "This is where my parents have their offices, and it also doubles as my dad's 'man cave'. " I head back upstairs and lead them down a dimly lit hallway.

"So, I locked most of the rooms to keep these hooligans out, but this is generally where all the bedrooms are," I say, gesturing towards the end of the hallway. "That's my parents' room, Karane and Pipit are staying in here, and Mid and Tetra are staying here," I say, pointing towards the closed doors. "And this is my room," I unlock the door and flick the light on.

"This is huge!" Link exclaims in awe.

"I'm a lucky girl," I quietly mutter, feeling suddenly aware of the spaciousness, and messiness, of my room. "Sorry about the mess. It's all Shad's," I blurt without thinking.

"Yeah? His bras are way prettier than mine," Link teases.

"Okay okay, this is all my crap." He laughs and I elbow his side playfully.

Link and Ruto continue to scan my room, Ruto looking entirely unimpressed. Whatever. "Before I forget, I got you something," Link says, looking over at Ruto. She rolls her eyes and sighs, reaching into her purse. She pulls out a small, prettily wrapped package and shoves it into my hands. Thanks jerk. I look at Link. "Can I -?" I ask, looking down at the present.

"Yeah, open it, open it!"

I unwrap it quickly, tearing the pretty paper with reckless abandon.

"Link, this is really cool!" I say, holding up a thin, dark brown braided leather bracelet. He smiles and offers to tie it on. "I got it from Termina Bay a couple weeks ago. The local people have a bunch of stands set up near the dig site where they sell bracelets and blankets and other stuff to suckers like me." He finishes tying the bracelet around my wrist and I see Ruto glaring daggers at Link out of the corner of my eye. "I love it," I smile at him. I look into his blue eyes a moment too long before he looks away.

"Sooo, Pipit?" he drawls.

We head outside and, after showing them around the backyard, we find Pipit and Karane out in the patio, smoking with Darunia, Saria, Midna, and Tetra. The two boys whoop with joy and hug each other excitedly. They quickly begin catching up, and Karane and I exchange quick smiles. Shad is nowhere to be found; he probably left as soon as they started smoking. I should probably go see where he ran off to, but I really want to chill with these guys. No, he'll be fine on his own for a bit. I make up my mind and sit in Pipit's now empty chair, ignoring the nagging feeling of guilt in the back of my mind.

"Where's your bathroom?" Ruto asks me. I point her to the bathrooms and return to the patio and find an empty chair next to Link, who has finally removed his slouchy black beanie.

"You got a haircut," I notice for the first time. I run my hands through his hair, gently ruffling it. It's noticeably shorter, his fringe no longer skimming his eyes.

"Ruto hates it," he grimaces, clenching his beanie. "Says it makes me look like a dork," he half-smiles.

"I like it," I say, continuing to run my hands through his hair. "You look more grown-up."

"Ugh, I can't tell which is worse," he whines, pulling his beanie back down on his head in shame.

"Just take the compliment, you butt," I reply, smacking his shoulder. I'm handed the blunt by Tetra and I take a huge hit. I count to three internally and slowly exhale a milky white puff of smoke. I pass the blunt to Link, vaguely aware of my fingers grazing his. "You look good Link."

He smiles and looks down at his feet. Feeling shy, are we?

"You too Zel."

"But I look the same as always," I smile coyly. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Karane staring intently in my direction, but I pointedly ignore her.

Link doesn't answer and instead takes a hit before quickly passing it to Darunia, suddenly seized by a coughing fit.

"Gotta cough to get off?" I laugh, handing him a random glass of wine to help soothe his throat. Darunia chuckles, thumping Link's back with a heavy hand. "Is this your first time?"

Link opens his mouth to answer but is once again wracked with coughs. "Don't hurt yourself, kid," Darunia pats his back again.

"Let's go get you some water," I offer, pulling him up from his chair and taking him to the kitchen.

* * *

We stand by the kitchen counter, and I watch Link thirstily guzzle a large glass of water. "You okay there, buddy?" I ask him.

He nods his head and clears his throat. "That was embarrassing." He takes another long drink from his cup. "Man, that guy must think I'm lame, huh?" he grins bashfully, referring to my large Goron friend.

"Meh, he's just thinking what we already know," I shrug, laughing when he nudges my hips forcefully with his. I notice he's wearing his favorite Dragon Roost Collective band shirt.

"Nice shirt, punk."

"Thanks, bud. Hey! Remember how we keep talking about how we need to go see Dragon Roost together?"

"Yeah?" I ask cautiously, excitement slowly bubbling up inside me.

"Well, guess who's playing a show at Old Hyrule Stadium this fall?" I look at him expectantly, pressing him to continue.

"Wait, no way - "

Link nods his head quickly, beaming with joy. "Dragon Roost is playing in November!"

"No way! They never play any shows! The last time they went on tour was seven years ago! Link, can we go!?" I ask him, tugging on his jacket and barely able to contain my excitement.

"No shit, why do you think I'm telling you about it?" he laughs. I can't help but squeal in delight as I bring him down for a hug. We've been talking about this since the beginning of our freshman year and this band seriously never goes on tour, so this is a huge deal. "Link, this is the best birthday present ever."

"Um, Zel I didn't say I was going to buy tickets or anything," he explains a bit nervously.

"Don't ruin a good moment," I shush him, cradling his head to my chest and stroking it with mocking gentleness. He snickers and I finally release him from my hold. He speaks up again once our laughter dies down.

"So, what's up with Midna?" he asks, fiddling with the zipper on his jacket.

"You mean, why was she flirting with you?"

"Well, yeah."

"She's looking to score," I say, taking the cup from his hand and casually taking a drink. I nearly choke on the water when I see Link's bug-eyed expression.

"No, but, I...really?" he asks, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. I start shaking with silent laughter, feeling bad for taking advantage of Link's inebriated state of mind.

"She just hates your girlfriend. She's not trying to hit that or anything," I reassure him, patting his stomach. "She just wants Ruto to think she is." He stares blankly into the distance for a few moments before turning back to me.

"Girls are cruel."

"We're not all bad, jerk." I point an accusatory finger at him. "Don't tell me you're actually disappointed!"

He swats my hand away from his face, grumbling pure gibberish. Well, I'm not hearing a no. He sighs and stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets, slouching against the kitchen counter.

"Hey, thanks for being nice to Ruto tonight. Or, well, at least civil," he mumbles in a low voice.

"What's up with her anyway? She seems a lot more..." I gesture abstractly, at a loss for words. Well, that's not true, I just don't think Link would appreciate any of the words I'd like to call his beloved.

"She's been like this since I came in yesterday," he bites his lower lip nervously. "She won't tell me what I did, either. She's just being super passive-aggressive and I have no idea what I did wrong," Link sighs.

"Maybe it's the haircut." He snorts and nudges me again, a little more roughly this time.

"She's probably wondering where I went. Shall we?" he nods his head towards the outside.

"Go on ahead; I should probably check on Shad," I remember my missing boyfriend, who is probably hanging out in my room.

"Oh yeah, what happened to the little guy anyway?"

"He's not little, you're just freakishly tall."

"Maybe you're just freakishly short."

"Whoa, when did this become about me?"

He snorts and musses my hair. I retaliate by stealing his beanie and shoving him out the back door and into the patio, continuing my walk down the hallway.

* * *

I find Shad laying in my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I toss Link's beanie into the pile of clothes on my floor and slither into bed, wrapping my arms around him tenderly.

"It's crazy out there huh?" I whisper, tucking my head under his chin.

"I just needed to be someplace quiet," he responds.

"I have no idea how every one found out about this. It was supposed to a quiet, chill night, you know?"

"You could ask them to leave. It is your house."

"Yeah, but they're not trashing the house or anything. I think everyone just wants to have fun." I snuggle closer to him. "I don't really mind them too much, as long as they don't get too rowdy."

We lay silently in bed, listening to the throbbing music and excited voices outside. Shad suddenly takes my hand in his, running his thumb over my bracelet. "Is this new?"

"Link got it for me in Termina." I feel him exhale slowly before rising from bed. He rummages through his suitcases, carefully unpacking the rest of his clothes. God, he's such a neat freak.

"Happy birthday Zelda." He hands me a tiny jewelry box, wrapped in a shiny red bow. I open it and find a small, delicate silver chain, a sapphire blue Nayru orb attached on the necklace. "This is beautiful!" I lift my hair as he ties the necklace behind my neck. I walk over to my closet mirror, admiring my reflection. "It's really pretty Shad, thank you," I turn to him and hug him, kissing him softly.

"Queen Zelda V possessed the Triforce of Wisdom, which is strongly connected to the goddess Nayru," he explains, running his thumb over the orb. "She wore sapphire jewelry fashioned after Nayru's symbol."

"I know, I took the same Ancient Regality class as you," I inform him. "Are you saying I remind you of the Princess of Destiny?" I ask him.

He solemnly nods his head. "You're my princess, Zellie," he replies with a kiss. He says it with so much sincerity that it takes all I have not to cringe and laugh at his cheesy line. Oh boy, this guy is killing me.

"Come on, let's go see what everyone's up to," I suggest, and we head back to the patio, where I find the whole gang, minus Link and Ruto, chatting and socializing. I settle down on a love seat, sitting on Shad's lap. I lazily snuggle into him, tuning out of the conversation and observing the several people drinking and dancing in my backyard. I'm really happy with the way things have turned out tonight. It's nice getting to hang out with my closest friends, but seeing everyone else have a good time is increasing _my _good time. I'm also glad Link made it out today. I really didn't think Ruto would want to come over, so I guess kudos to her for not being a total killjoy. And I really do like Link's haircut. It makes his eyes stand out even more than they already do. Where did he go anyway? I'm silently pondering Link's whereabouts when I suddenly spot three certain men and my blood runs cold. "I'm gonna go get a drink," I jump up quickly and I run to the kitchen.

* * *

Shit. _Shit_. What are they doing here? How dare they show up to my house? I fight the waves of anger, fear, and nausea slowly overtaking me by pulling out a handle of whiskey from our secret stash and shakily pouring myself a drink. As I sip the burning alcohol I notice Link sitting on the couch with Ruto. He seems to be attempting to engage her in conversation, but she's not having any of it. Ruto is angled away from him and rolling her eyes, arms tightly crossed across her chest. Looks like they're not having a good time either.

"Zel, is everything okay?" I hear Tetra ask. I whip around and find her standing behind me. She's looking at me with a worried expression, glancing back and forth between me and the handle of whiskey in my hand.

"You ran off all of a sudden and - Zel?" I drop to the floor, cradling my body and hiding my face. "Zelda, what's wrong? Zelda?" I hear Tetra's worried voice but can't bring myself to look at her.

"Zel? What's the matter?" I hear a masculine voice ask. I slowly raise my head, refusing to make eye contact with Tetra and Link. I take a few steadying breaths before I respond, fighting to keep my fear and anger at bay.

"They're here," I say plainly.

"Who's here?" Link asks, confusion lacing his voice.

I close my eyes and take another deep breath. "Vaati. Vaati and his stupid friends are in my backyard," I manage to choke out before obscuring my face once more, refusing to shed tears in front of my friends. I hear Tetra gasp loudly. "I'll be back Zel, I promise." I hear her run down the hall.

I feel someone wrap their arms around my trembling body gently. "Do you need them to leave?" I hear Link whisper. I grunt quietly and nod my head.

"What does he look like?"

"He's a purple-haired freak and he -"

I quickly look up at him. "Link, no! I don't want anyone to start any trouble."

"Zelda, they're making you upset. They have to go."

"I don't want anyone to get into any fights, please Link," I plead with him.

He looks into my eyes for a few, long seconds, until I can no longer stand his intense gaze and I rest my head on his shoulder.

We stay crouching on the floor like this, embracing quietly, for a few moments. I hear angry voices approaching our spot in the kitchen and I look up.

"I can't believe those fuckers are here!" Midna growls angrily.

"I'll kill them!" Darunia roars. Karane, Tetra, Shad, and even Pipit look livid. Saria looks frightened at the sudden turn of events and at the violent outburst of the usually gentle Darunia.

"Who are these guys?" Link asks the group carefully.

"They drugged Zelda at a party -"

"Midna!" I exclaim. I see Link's expression darken and he slowly rises to his feet, exhaling quietly. He marches outside without a word, followed by Darunia, Pipit, and Shad.

I run after them worriedly, afraid of a possible confrontation. I see the four boys approach Vaati and his two friends. He's laughing and drinking beer with Ganondorf Powers, a tall, barrel-chested, imposing slab of a man, and Ghirahim Diamante, a tall, slim, creepy looking snake-guy. I look on from afar, not wanting to be noticed by the three predatory men.

"You guys have to leave," Link speaks up first, arms crossed across his chest.

"Who the fuck are you?" Vaati spits out, sizing Link up. He is quickly flanked by his two friends, Ganondorf in particular immediately trying to intimidate him.

"It doesn't matter who I am, you guys have to leave right now," Link repeats, holding his steely gaze. The three men let out a barking laugh. Ganondorf and Ghirahim begin to circle Link threateningly, waiting to pounce.

"Look, the hostess doesn't want you here, if you guys go now, we won't have any problems," Pipit speaks up, attempting to reason with them.

"The hostess? You mean Zelda?" Vaati looks around excitedly. "Where is that lying bitch anyway? I need to give her her birthday present," he smiles lecherously.

Shad growls and Link steps forward menacingly, an angry scowl on his boyish face. Vaati shoves him aside, causing Link to grab the front of Vaati's shirt forcefully. Ganondorf swings at Link, which is blocked by the equally large Darunia. Pipit and Shad keep Ghirahim at bay. Vaati pushes Link and they tumble to the floor, throwing punches at one another rapidly. Tetra and Midna pull out a cellphone and run out into the quickly escalating confrontation, yelling out at the three aggressors.

"If you don't leave right now we'll call the fucking cops!" Midna threatens. The group stares each other down, until finally, thankfully, Vaati and his friends relent. Link releases Vaati from his iron grip and lets him walk away from their fight.

"Fuck this party," the three creeps spit out before leaving through the open gate. Darunia follows them to make sure they leave without damaging anything. Everyone is silently staring over at my friends, who make their way over to me to make sure I'm okay.

"I think it's time to call it a night," Karane proclaims. I nod my head meekly, resting my head on Shad's chest. Tetra, Midna, and Darunia start making their way around the outside, breaking the news to the party revelers. Shad, Pipit, and Saria head inside to do the same. Karane and Link stay outside, offering comforting words to me. Karane wraps me in a hug, reassuring me that Vaati is gone.

"Zelda, I'm sorry -" Link starts before I envelop him in a hug.

"Thank you," I mumble into his chest. "Buy why'd you go and get yourself in that mess?" I ask quietly, gently touching the cut on his forehead and his lip.

"Aah, this is nothing. Are you okay?" he asks me worriedly. I offer him a shaky smile. I notice Ruto near the door, looking upset. "Ruto doesn't seem too happy though."

"Oh god..." Link mutters and brings his hands to his face in exasperation. "Give me a sec, yeah?" he asks before running to her side without waiting for a response. Karane and I watch him plead with Ruto, who only seems to be getting angrier by the second.

"He's such a sweet guy. What a waste..." Karane sighs. I nod silently in agreement. They continue to argue, until Ruto storms inside. Link watches her leave, running his hand through his hair and sighing, before jogging over to me.

"Ruto's really mad. I'm sorry, but I have to go." He hugs me one more time before quickly kissing the top of my head. We both freeze for a moment before he runs after Ruto, shouting out to me.

"Happy birthday Zel!" I feel my face burn as he leaves and Karane grasps my arm.

"Did he kiss you!?" she whispers incredulously.

"He was just trying to make me feel better," I respond. She looks at me in disbelief.

"It was just in the moment," I try again. She continues to stare at me, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Don't tell Shad," I finally say.

* * *

***A quick note: pipettes were those little squeezy tubes that held liquids that we played with in chemistry class. I also don't really know how it's supposed to be taken as an insult. I feel that it really just shows how Shad really has not gotten over a nearly two-year old incident and has to resort to childish name-calling. The ego's a fragile little thing.**

***Another quick note: I fucking love cheese. I love it and I would eat nothing but cheese for the rest of my life if I could.**

***Dragon Roost Collective is a flimsy cover for my actual favorite band/musical group. Bonus points to anyone who can guess it?**

**I am so sorry this is so late! I don't really know why this chapter was so difficult to finish writing. Maybe because I had so many things to get through? This took so long to finish writing, and it wasn't really writer's block so much that mentally I had already moved on from this chapter so remembering that I had to actually go back and fill in the rest of the story was such a chore. Huh. Maybe that is writer's block? I was also extremely busy with my internship these past couple of weeks, but that's finally over so I'll have a little more free time before I go back to school.**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited/followed this story, and a very special thanks to everyone who has reviewed! To the guest who commented that they really don't like my characterization of Link, I'm really sorry you feel that way. Would you say he's...the weakest link? (BAHAHAHAHA). But in all seriousness, I really appreciate the feedback and I hope he comes across a little better in this chapter.**

**Also, I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but I marked the rating down from M to T. I'm just not sure if anything in this story will actually warrant an M rating, but eh, we'll get there when we get there?**


End file.
